They wore hoop skirts and bell-bottoms, flapper dresses and psychedelic prints. There was even an ’80s ski suit that should have come with its own warning label.
Local elected officials, business owners and community leaders traded their usual attire for a trip through 250 years of American fashion on Sept. 16 during Revolutionary Runway at Plymouth’s historic Hedge House.
Presented by the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce and House Cat Vintage & Consignment, the show used fashion to explore 250 years of American history, looking at the ways clothing reflects — and is influenced by — the cultural and social movements of its time.
“The idea came from Amy Naples and Stephen Cole, who are both part of the Chamber,” said Abby Thompson, owner of House Cat Vintage & Consignment. Thompson curated the clothes and hosted the show with her husband, Justin Ogilvie of Positive Coaching Alliance and Point32Health, who was himself dressed in Revolutionary garb.
Naples is the executive director of the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce, and Cole is chair of the Chamber’s Economic Development Committee.
“Both Stephen and I serve on the town’s 250th commemoration committee, and we were trying to come up with a fun event that would highlight 250 years of history and spotlight our businesspeople,” Naples said. “Fashion gives us a unique way to tell a story, and we were looking for something fun and creative. So, we chose 250 years of fashion — and the movements that went along with how people dressed. We also wanted to have it at a beautiful historic location, so we were lucky to have it at Hedge House.”
Naples said it was important to encompass all of the town’s history, including the history of the region’s Native American tribes.
“What was important to the three of us was to include the Herring Pond Wampanoags and other local tribes. Their story is incredibly important to the story of our region,” she said.
“We asked Abby to help assemble the costumes and the event,” Naples said.
As an avid vintage fashion lover and entrepreneur, Thompson jumped right in.
“We were thrilled to be able to be part of this,” Thompson said. The evening began by acknowledging the land is the traditional and continuing homeland of the Wampanoag Nation.
Clothing offers a window into a larger story, Thompson said.
“I believe clothing can tell us a lot about humanity,” she told the audience, describing fashion as something shaped by the cultural conversation while also influencing trends.
Aside from a few accessories, all of the runway looks were assembled from vintage or secondhand pieces from House Cat and are available for purchase. The models were an eclectic cross-section of the community — elected officials, nonprofit leaders, educators, business owners, students, community organizers and local personalities — and they thoroughly enjoyed their turns down the aisle.
“This was such a fun and creative way to help celebrate the 250th. I’d love to see this become an annual event with different themes each year,” said Deb Iaquinto, chair of the Plymouth Select Board, who participated in the event.
The runway opened with Amara Newcomb and Eva Blake wearing traditional Northeastern Wampanoag regalia made from deerskin. Newcomb is a citizen of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and a proud Two-Spirit individual, and her wife, Blake, is a citizen of the Assonet Wampanoag. The duo was followed by 14-year-old high school student Ava Hannigan, a Herring Pond Wampanoag tribal youth, in a ribbon skirt handmade by her grandmother, Herring Pond Wampanoag Chairwoman Melissa Ferretti.
Next, Iaquinto stepped out in an empire-waist dress layered over a large hoop skirt with a black hat, representing the 1800s.
State Sen. Dylan Fernandes modeled late-19th-century menswear with some decidedly splashy details. Fernandes represents the Plymouth and Barnstable District.
State Rep. Michelle Badger, who represents the 1st Plymouth District, took on the Roaring ’20s in a flapper look with the shorter hem and dropped waist that helped define the decade.
State Rep. Kathleen LaNatra, who represents the 12th Plymouth District, went considerably more psychedelic in a bold late-1960s dress inspired by the Summer of Love.
But some of the evening’s biggest fashion statements came from Plymouth’s business community.
Katy Thayer, of Uva Wine Bar, appeared in what Thompson called a “Titanic-ready” early-20th-century look, while Speedwell Tavern managing partner Jordan Chabot went full “Peaky Blinders” in 1910s menswear.
Cape Auto Body’s David Gallerani channeled the 1950s rebel in denim and a James Dean-inspired look. Then came the clothes that were harder to miss.
Cole took on the 1970s in enormous bell-bottoms, tinted aviators, a white belt and a wildly patterned shirt. Thompson joked that Plymouth had “not issued a small-craft advisory” despite the width of his pants. Every model seemed to enjoy the opportunity to do mock bows and twirls, to the crowd’s delight.
Naples followed with a 1980s look, wearing an outrageously colorful vintage ski suit representative of the decade’s enthusiasm for loud patterns, Lycra, oversized silhouettes and workout-inspired fashion.
Jackie Studer, of South Shore Event Solutions, and Kevin Hood, of Hood Custom Homes, brought the runway into the 1990s — Studer in a prairie-revival romper paired with punk-rock combat boots and Hood in grunge-inspired attire — before Brendon Elliot, of Cornerstone Financial, moved the show into Y2K fashion and Cristina Wilson, of Old Colony YMCA Plymouth, modeled the 2010s “indie hipster” aesthetic.
Other models included former PACTV Executive Director and former Chamber board member Julie Thompson; Andrea Dickinson, president of Sustainable Plymouth; and Jen Tran-Alexanian, of Mama Made Studios.
Scott Hokanson, of Brabo Insurance, had perhaps the most recognizable assignment of the evening: 2020. His remote-worker ensemble was business on top and comfortable on the bottom, recalling the days when Zoom meetings abruptly changed workplace dress codes.
The show closed with Melissa Ferretti, chairwoman of the Herring Pond Wampanoag Tribe and chair of the Bourne Select Board. Ferretti, who was raised by an Elder of her tribe in South Plymouth, walked in a red, black and white ribbon skirt she made herself, honoring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People. She paired it with red-dress earrings symbolizing visibility, remembrance and protection.
Held as part of the commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, the evening used fashion as a lighthearted vehicle for a more serious idea: clothing reflects the social movements, upheavals and changing expectations of the people of its time.
For Thompson, the secondhand clothing offered another connection between past and present — and perhaps a reason to rethink what is already hanging in closets or sitting on clothing racks waiting for another life.
“Part of why I love vintage clothing with a past is because I like to imagine that the wearer of each piece is bringing with them the lessons and strength of those who wore it before,” she said.
And after an evening of hoop skirts, flappers, hippies, bell-bottoms, ski suits and grunge, Plymouth gave those vintage clothes a colorful second act.
Julia Marie Davis can be reached at julia@plymouthindependent.org.
